Scenes by the Seine

THE OLYMPICS ARE a major event for those who are interested but for the rest of us, it means outrageously inflated hotel prices, road closures and extra security in a place with an already strong police presence compared to the seemingly extinct British Bobby.

While both were called unexpectedly soon, the British election looks boring and predictable, a landslide seeming likely as Labour captures the centre ground, while the French one is much tenser as there has been a surge in rightwing populism, as in much of the rest of Europe, while also a strong leftist party and a weak liberal centre.

I’m always thrilled to visit Paris, the train from London being quicker than the Mumbai-Pune journey. It was a joy to see the wonderful exhibition of Brâncuși’s beautiful sculpture at the Centre Georges Pompidou. Works have been moved from his studio in the Piazza opposite the Centre and shown alongside many loans to make this an important event.

The elegant modernist works bring together Brâncuși’s Romanian heritage with many traditions, ranging from European antiquity, African influences, to his work with Rodin. The works embody a new modernity, pure, simple, and smooth. The most striking room was the ‘Bird in Space’, pieces that were made from 1923 onwards, following his work on the Măiastras, birds from Romanian fairy tales. The birds seemed to fly over Paris, as the sixth-floor gallery benefited from panoramic views of the city with icons such as the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur close enough to touch, it seemed.

In this room was Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, Maharaja of Indore, who acquired a ‘Bird in Space’ in bronze in 1931. In 1936, he planned a ‘Temple of Meditation’ in Indore. Brâncuși spent January 1938 in India, mostly visiting temples, but later in the year, the Maharaja abandoned the plan. This reception of modern art was very different from that of the US Customs Office which took Brâncuși to court in 1927-1928, claiming that one of his bronze birds wasn’t a work of art but rather an industrial piece of metal.

While the railway stations of Paris may be seen as temples of modernity, the former Gare d’Orsay, built in 1900 and obsolete as a station in 1939 (although featuring in Orson Welles’ 1962 film of Kafka’s The Trial) was to be demolished but was saved to be refurbished as a museum. The building itself is breathtaking while hosting a world-class collection of art. I was lucky to catch ‘Paris 1874: Inventing impressionism’, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first impressionist exhibition that was the beginning of a modern movement.

Yet, Paris isn’t just about modernity. Its history can be seen through its many beautifully maintained historic buildings, from the Roman amphitheatre (Arènes de Lutèce), the exquisite Sainte-Chapelle, completed in 1248, or the Classical St-Sulpice. It was heartening to see the ongoing restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the heart of Paris and, indeed, of France.

The cohabitation of the modern and the historic and the pride in culture is seen in French food—the traditional along the modern. Although famous for the grand Michelin tradition, it is everyday food which shows French eating culture. Cheap cuts of food are still found—pig’s trotters and the andouillette (please never eat one in the same room as me)—and the bourgeois traditions. Charles de Gaulle said, “How can you govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?” The way of knowing how to eat, the balanced meal, the several courses, the lingering over coffee, just as eating traditional food in India rather than plastic junk. There is incomprehension among many for food intolerances which are seen as disordered eating, and some hostility to dietary restrictions though now there are often vegetarian options. (I used to be strictly vegetarian and in one Parisian restaurant the chef came out to gawp at me, asking what I wanted to eat—biscuits or cake?)

The main Indian area of Paris is the 10th arrondissement, south of the Gare du Nord, from where the Eurostar links Paris to London in just over two hours. It seemed mostly Bengali-speaking and has famous areas such as the Passage Brady, a 19th-century arcade known as Little India for its South Asian restaurants.

How do Indians relate to Paris? I think it’s difficult as many see the various parts of the ‘West’ as variants of the US rather than very different countries with their own languages and accents. When I first went to Paris in the 1970s, I had to struggle to speak French as no one would use English but now the minute anyone hears us speaking English or my English accent in French, they switch to English.

Paris’ great attractions are manifested in the many Hindi films which have been shot there. In Sangam (1964), Sundar (Raj Kapoor) and Radha (Vyjayanthimala) honeymoon in Paris, where he wants to go out to explore the pleasures on his own but she retorts by outvamping the Parisiennes with ‘Mujhe buddha mil gaya’.

My all-time favourite, An Evening in Paris (1967), stars the very chic Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore, with Shammi as the focus of desire of Parisian women in the title song. Shyam (Shammi) as Sam and Suzy (Sharmila in a double role) pass as locals. The lead couple are so Westernised that in ‘Aasman se aaya farishta’, Shammi hangs from a helicopter coyly wearing his dressing gown but Sharmila pretends to water-ski in a one-piece bathing suit. This was seen as a pivotal moment in film clothing (though it wasn’t the first swimsuit) and it was a swimsuit, not a bikini, as many recall as the furore about Sharmila wearing a bikini was over a Filmfare shoot. The Eiffel Tower has its own role to play in the film and features in much of the publicity. One lovely moment is during the film when tourists, curious about what is being shot, start to stare at the stars, the camera merely tilts to avoid them but keeps filming.

Among the many films which are partially set in Paris, there is a tour of Paris in ‘Illahi’ in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), while the city is seen as a romantic location in Befikre (2016) and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016). This meaning is subverted in Queen (2014), where Rani (Kangana Ranaut) goes on her ‘solo honeymoon’ to Paris, where the girl from Rajouri Garden takes on the city with great success.

The gaze is also reversed as there are several French films set in India, from The River (Jean Renoir, 1951), Phantom India (Louis Malle, 1969), La Nuit Bengali (Nicolas Klotz, 1988), and Nocturne Indien (Alain Corneau, 1989), but that is another story.

An Evening In ParisBollywoodcinemaShammi KapoorSharmila Tagore